Evans Engineering Inc.
Evans Engineering Inc. is an American automotive engineering firm and racing team owned by Neal Evans. Their headquarters is located in New York City, their primary garage is located in Syracuse, New York, and their international garage is located in Douglas, Isle of Man. They currently field the #17 car for Matt Evans. The Early Years In the mid-70s, after finishing college, Neal Evans started racing dirt modifies and brother Mark Evans was part way through a career in drag racing, both at local track Utica-Rome Speedway. Neal used Ford Racing engines through his dirt career. Together they formed a multi-motorsport team called Evans Brothers Engineering. The name was a joke between the 2 as neither had any engineering experience. The team folded in the mid-80s when both brothers moved on from motorsports to other careers. Pre-UHTS and Rallycross After Matt’s brief stint in jail he began attending college in 2005 at Clarkson University in Upstate NY. The racing bug was not kicked from Evans though and he began competing in Autocross across New York with his father. Matt ran an Autocross prepped Mazda 3, and Neal ran his lightly modified ’87 Ford Mustang LX. At the start of his Junior year (Aug. 2007), while still competing in Autocross, Matt and Neal began prepping a new car. The following spring (2008), Matt competed in his first SCCA Club level race at Watkins Glen, starting on the pole, and finishing in second in his fully track prepped Mazda FD RX-7. Neal and Matt quickly gained a strong allegiance to Mazda, while maintaining a loose allegiance with Ford. The same year, the two founded Evans Engineering Inc., taking inspiration from the team name Neal and Mark had used 30 years earlier. In 2009, one year after his first SCCA Club race, Matt got his first win. The hard-fought win, at Watkins Glen, consisted of a lot of competition against fellow Mazda driver John Blackburn. After the race Matt spoke with Blackburn and found out he was an engineer by trade as well, and a friendship developed between Blackburn and the Evans’. In October of 2009 Matt won the national championship, and then hired Blackburn as lead engineer. In the remainder of 2009, EEI prepped a second, identical, RX-7 for Blackburn to drive. On January 2nd, 2010 the firm announced they would open its doors as a Mazda builder, building street cars and race cars. Throughout the earlier part of the year they began work developing their, now famous, shocks and fully custom racing chassis as well. In late 2010 they signed a contract with URCS to build fully custom racing vehicles that were unlike anything seen before. In 2011, Matt’s friend, Tyler Benoit, asked him to run in a newly created Stock Car series, the Utica Home Track Series. 2011-2012 Even while Evans competed in UHTS for various teams, Matt and Blackburn continued to compete in Club racing. They finished 1 and 2 in points in 2011. In 2012 Evans began running URCS as well as UHTS, and thus had to back out of his Club racing role, leaving Blackburn and his father to pilot the two Mazda’s. 2012 saw Blackburn getting 1st in points, and Neal coming in 3rd. 2013 2013 was one of the biggest years for EEI. Neal and Blackburn managed to tie in points for a joint National title in SCCA Club racing. The team also announced they would run a Mazda for the 2014 season of UHTS powered by a Ford Racing engine. Blackburn was asked and accepted a deal to be an alternate driver for Scuderia Ferrari in the 24hrs of Le Mans. Neal and Blackburn also created a sub-division of EEI called EB Rally Tech. EEI also announced it would be hosting a rally series in partnership with the Utica Home organizers, called the Utica Dirt Devils Series. 2014 2014 was the opposite of 2013, and was one of the roughest years in EEI history. EEI completed its first season in the UHTS, finishing a shortened season 20th in points. EEI hosted the first 2 events of the Utica Dirt Devils Series, but then had to end the season abruptly after losing funding. In December of 2014 Neal announced that EB Rally Tech. would be shutting down, but that EEI would still offer rally prepping for customers, featuring their in-house built shocks. URCS EEI has competed in all 4 seasons of the Utica Rallycross Series under the #17. Most races were run by Matt, and the end of Season 4 was finished by Neal. Moving Forward Halfway through Season 4 of Rallycross, Matt announced he wouldn’t be running the remainder of the races, putting his Dad behind the wheel, saying he wanted to focus on other ventures. He later confirmed in a small interview that he would really like to bring back UDDS, and he pulled out of Rallycross for the season to concentrate on organizing of this. EEI plans to continue with Rallycross in the next season with Matt back behind the wheel. URCS Contract Evans Engineering Inc. was one of several companies Utica Rallycross LLC. considered to fabricate their cars. After reviewing several firms, EEI was picked for its patented stress-resistant, ultra-durable shocks and chassis. The firm was officially given the contract in late 2010. A massive deadline crunch to develop the car by 2012 put stress on the team. Evans almost backed out of the contract, but a few opportunistic breakthrough in design kept them on-board for the duration. The final prototype was unveiled in July 2012 and sixteen cars were produced for race teams. In November of 2012, as a thanks for accepting the difficult contract, Utica Rallycross LLC. allowed the firm to field an entry in the series. A seventeenth car was quickly produced and Neal Evans allowed son and successful stock car racer Matt Evans to pilot the machine. The lack of time to prepare the car resulted in the machine bearing a simple black paint scheme, resulting in Evans' iconic image and nickname.Category:Teams